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Spotlight on right to food

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI JAN. 6. During the past few months, there have been widespread reports of extreme hunger and even "starvation deaths'' from different parts of the country. Chronic hunger and malnutrition haunt millions of women, men and children on a day-to-day basis. Apart from being intolerable in its own right, this situation reflects a gross violation of the recent Supreme Court directive on the right to food.

To turn the spotlight of attention on this issue, a public hearing on hunger and starvation will be organised here in the Capital this coming Friday by the support group of the "Right to Food'' campaign, an informal network of organisations and individuals committed to realisation of the right to food in India. The group believes that the primary responsibility for guaranteeing this right rests with the State.

``State authorities need to be held accountable to this situation and the conscience of the nation also needs to be stirred. That is why we are organising the public hearing,'' says a spokesperson for the support group on "Right to Food''. Particular attention will be paid to recent instances of "starvation deaths'' in different states. "Our role as citizens is mainly to hold the State accountable to its duty.''

At the public hearing, first-hand testimonies of starvation deaths and of the living conditions that prevail in the affected communities will be presented. Going beyond this, the gathering will focus on the enormity of hunger in contemporary India and the diverse ways in which it blights people's lives. The hearing will also be an opportunity to consider the failure of the State in addressing these issues.

``Starvation deaths have been reported from Baran in Rajasthan, Kashipur in Orissa, Palamau in Jharkhand, Shivpuri, Badwani in Madhya Pradesh and Nandurbar in Maharashtra. The persistence of widespread hunger is all the more absurd as public godowns in the country are overflowing with grains,'' says the spokesperson of the "Right to Food'' support group, adding that public pressure was needed to ensure that the Court's order with regard to the "Right to Food'' was implemented. "States such as Rajasthan have seen major improvements in food-related programmes in response to such pressure.''

On January 10, therefore, the testimonies of those "living with hunger'' will be heard by a small panel of distinguished economists, nutritionists and other experts for the first time in the Capital. Economist Amartya Sen and writer Mahasweta Devi have agreed to participate in the hearing which is expected to further the support group's objective of catalysing state intervention through effective popular organisation in a democratic manner.

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